Whales And Aurora - The Shipwreck (CD)

Review
Femforgacs
8.3/10
02.11.2012

Hajókázásra invitálom a kedves olvasót.. azaz nem én, hanem az olasz Whales And Aurora zenekar, akiknek úgy tűnik, az észak-itáliai napsütés se elég ahhoz, hogy az élet fényes oldalát szem előtt tartva vegyék kezükbe a hangszereiket. Erről a hajóútról ugyanis nincs visszatérés, a résztvevőnek csak merengést, emlékezést, befordulást és fájdalmat ígér, elmerülést a lélek legsötétebb mélységeiben, ahogy a borítón látható hajó merülhet el a tenger fenekén.

A zenekar 2008-ban jött létre a LaPeste és a The Simple Truth zenekar tagjaiból (egészen biztos vagyok benne, hogy mindenki ismeri őket, hehe), és az itt bemutatott The Shipwreck az elsőszülött, meglehetősen ígéretes lemezük a Slow Burn Records gondozásában. Stílusát tekintve a sludge és a post metal illik hozzá leginkább, saját bevallásuk szerint a 70-es évek pszichedelikus rockzenéje (konkrétan a Pink Floyd), a jelenleg jól menő post-rock irányvonal és persze a sludge ihlette meg zenéjüket, szerintem nyugodtan megemlíthető külön a Neurosis is.

Mindezen hatásokat beépítve tehát lehangolták hangszereiket és saját magukat is, és elkészült a közel háromnegyedórás masszív fájdalom- és kétségbeesésmassza. Mindezen érzelmeket nagyon is átélhetően és átérezhetően adagolva öntötték számokba, összesen hétbe, amelyből három rövidebb instrumentális darab és négy hosszabb, igényesen felépített, szöveggel is ellátott dal található a Shipwrecken.

A nyitó Refused Recounting Words ugyan nem instrumentális, mégis van valami intro jellege, mivel a vokál nagyon későn jön be. A magam részéről nehezen viselem a kizárólag üvöltésből álló éneket, ugyanakkor itt valahogy tényleg csak ez illik be a képbe, és teszi igazán a lélek mélyéig hatóvá a szenvedésnek itt megzenésített fokát. Az Achieving The Unavoidable a lemez leghosszabb dala, ami azonban korántsem válik unalmassá, a hosszan elnyújtott, főként a ritmusszekcióra épülő résznél érzi az ember a leginkább, hogy szépen lassan, kézen fogva vezetik a lélek legtávolabbi mélységeibe. Ezt egy rövid instrumentális darab követi, amit kifejezetten vizuálisnak érzek (ez egyébként az egész albumra igaz), mintha valami hullámzó tenger moraja lenne.
Az Abandoned Among Echoes az album csúcspontja; a szép, harmonikus felütésből az abszolút kétségbeesésbe és fájdalomba taszítja az embert, amelyből nem is engedi aztán már el, csak a záró gitártéma hoz valamiféle szomorú megnyugvást, csakúgy, mint a következő Awakened By The Aurora. Az utolsó előtti A New Awareness befejezése kifejezetten katarktikus, a Floating On Calm Waters pedig a vihar utáni csend megfestése zenei eszközökkel, melynek hatására az ember szinte látja a hajóroncsot a tenger fenekén.

Összességében kifejezetten tetszetős lemezt szabadítottak az olasz fiúk a világra így elsőre, amelynek kíváncsian várom a folytatását. Nem tudok felhozni kifejezetten negatív elemeket benne, talán nincsenek is, csupán kiemelkedő alkotásnak nem tartom a Shipwreck-et, de nem tartom kizártnak, hogy a következő albumuk már az lesz.

Review
Aristocrazia
28.10.2012

Il post metal è diventato per il sottoscritto uno di quei generi che o amo da impazzire, o odio profondamente, ciò è scaturito da una continua esposizione a prestazioni musicali che frequentemente si limitavano a ricalcare le orme già impresse da grandi nomi quali sono Neurosis, Isis e Cult Of Luna.
In Italia come stiamo messi? Siamo messi bene, di certo non mancano le band che danno prepotentemente spallate per farsi conoscere e apprezzare, chi non c’invidia act come i Lento, gli Ufomammut e perché non citare formazioni in ascesa come i Sunpocrisy e Quiet In The Cave? A questa schiera si aggiunge un quintetto vicentino che si è fatto attendere ma che è adesso pronto a dire la propria con il debutto “The Shipwreck”, loro sono i Whales And Aurora.
Collera, rabbia, solitudine, alienazione, fuga dal mondo, rivalsa, è un impianto emotivo instabile, cantilenante per non dire altalenante quello che si scatena roboante all’interno dei brani, la prestazione strumentale sembra volersi posizionare in due distinti e separati modi per dare vita a queste sensazioni.
La prima parte del lavoro sfrutta le canzoni nella quale vi è la componente vocale ottimamente curata per impostazione ed esecuzione da Alberto Brunello, forse un tantino similare a quella di Klas Rydberg in certe inclinazioni, per fornire un corpo e un peso evidente alle movenze più astiose e cupe, lasciando che l’angoscia esploda in una riottosa e volitiva presa di coscienza, a tal proposito “Refused Recounting Words”, “Achieving The Unavoidable”, lo strumentale ambient dissestante “The Aground Hard-Ship” e “Abandoned Among Echoes” ne sono la furente e avvilente rappresentazione che nell’ultima sta già modificando il tiro, è un gioco di contrasti quello che rende affascinante il trascorrere dei minuti che ci conducono alla seconda metà del platter nella quale la sinfonia prende veramente altra piega.
Con l’entrare delle note delicate, sognanti, un po’ floydiane del secondo pezzo strumentale, “Awakened By The Aurora”, l’atmosfera sinora ricoperta da fitte nubi lasciare intravedere, seppur in maniera sparuta, spiragli che permettono lievi infiltrazioni di luce, sembra di assistere alla quiete dopo la tempesta e la sensazione viene rimarcata nella successiva “A New Awareness” nel quale si ha la netta impressione che il meccanismo che azionato dalla musica produceva un grigiore insistente sia stato adesso sostituito da uno nel quale vi è una concentrazione di bianco non più indifferente, la robustezza della canzone serve non più a liberarsi, a sfogarsi ma a dimostrare che si è raggiunto l’obbiettivo prefissato, la presa di coscienza che conduce alla schiarita accompagnata dalla coda, ancora una volta unicamente affidata alla sezione strumentale, “Floating On Calm Waters”.
Gli Whales And Aurora han fatto centro al primo colpo, era facile? Assolutamente no. Preventivato? Ma quando mai.
I vicentini si candidano prepotentemente a divenire una delle band di punta della scena nel nostro stivale, cosa fare quindi se non consigliarvi l’acquisto di “The Shipwreck”.
Giacomo Leopardi scrisse: “così tra questa immensità s’annega il pensier mio: e il naufragar m’è dolce in questo mare”, chi dice che lo stesso non vi accada in loro compagnia? Per avere una risposta le uniche azioni possibili da mettere in atto sono ascoltare e lasciarsi andare.

Author: Mourning

Review
Brutalism
5/5
17.10.2012

Sometimes there comes along a band that instead of making a regular old concept album creates a vivid world through their music that takes the listener to a new level of thought. Whales and Aurora happens to be a band that can create powerful songs which makes for an amazing concept album. Their recent release “The Shipwreck” is a dark distorted journey with crushing guitars and heavy growling vocals. To classify this band is extremely hard to do because the sound takes on a variety of influences. From the progressive drone riffs to the black metal style vocals the music is a perfect blend of all different kinds of heavy music styles. These Italian metal musicians bring forth seven magnificently produced songs that create an all around spectacular album.

When I first looked at the album cover I was intrigued by the black and white photo of a ship sailing on rough ominous seas. Once I heard the first track, “Refused Recounting Words” I felt that the album cover captured the essence of the music. The riff in the song is heavily distorted and builds up slowly until a strong chord is struck creating a shock to my ears. Along with the powerfully distorted guitars the drumming adds tremendously to the songs overall sound. The lead singer starts singing and I am taken back by the raw aggressive emotion. Another great part about the song is the band slows down tempo to create a mellow doom feel and it contrasts nicely with the heavy thundering parts. The second song “Achieving the Unavoidable” is a long piece where I am hooked from beginning to end. This song’s mellow part comes in the beginning where there is a strong focus on the drums. I enjoy the drummer’s timing and his rhythms are well planned out with the bass guitar. In the middle section there is this synchronized crash of all the instruments while the singer is screaming over the noise.

The third song, “The Aground Hard-Ship” is my favorite song on the album. The song is just composed of a heavily distorted guitar hitting chords with plenty of reverb. This song reminds me of the drone music created by SunO))) and Earth. The guitar hits a coupe notes and the feedback echoes from my speakers creating a grand distorted atmosphere. I like songs that are simple, but bring forth a drone quality that takes me by surprise. On the song, “Awaken by the Aurora” the band slows the music down and incorporates a piano which creates a very mellow vibe. The song is calm and creates a comforting atmosphere with a classic progressive rock quality. Another song I enjoy on this album is, “A New Awareness.” This song does a great job summing up the powerful emotions created on the first two songs and is more triumphant instead of dark. There is this part when the singer is singing and the backing instruments are building up while he increases his growls. The way the band finishes off the album with the last song “Floating on Calm Waters” is a perfect wrap up of this intense musical journey. On this song the listener can look back on all the heavily distorted aggression while hearing a calm rhythm that is like ship floating a still intact after a massive storm.

Whales and Aurora’s brilliant concept album “The Shipwreck” ties in very powerful lyrical and musical themes to create a solid release. Now the growls can become hard to understand and sometimes seem a bit overdone, but I believe they work well with the heavily produced explosion of noise. Also, I understand people do not like too much distortion, but the sound creates some great musical atmospheres that are extremely heavy. All the songs on this album are created with great consideration to detail and work together to make a captivating album. I highly recommend this album to progressive doom metal fans that enjoy noise that takes them on a journey through rough seas. Trust me at the end of this album you will think that you have just finished a novel even though you did not read any words. A strong release and can’t wait to hear more from these guys in the future.

Author: Robby Stevens

Review
Ave Noctum
6.5/10
05.10.2012

Lately, there’s been an awful lot of both creaking ocean-themed concepts and atmospheric hardcore albums knocking about and this little beauty hammers both of those increasingly prevalent events together. These points might lead one to believe that Whales & Aurora are fans of emotionally visceral bands like Devil Sold His Soul or Amia Venera Landscape but having checked out their list of influences it appears they are more likely to listen to blissed-out rumblers like Lento, Mastodon and Russian Circles. Ignoring the incendiary wailing, the Italians’ debut, The Shipwreck, certainly lives up to that premise with the band cutting no corners and sinking their teeth in for long, rotational runs to strengthen their musical structures.

Maximum volume and total immersion is required to fully appreciate the band’s efforts here, although blissful sonic drifting is made difficult and, suprisingly, the culprit isn’t Alberto Brunello’s vocal. Andrea Segnini Campesato’s snare mic has been wound up a tad too loud (trust me, you won’t miss its intermittent, aggressive “pop” sound). Instantly recognisable when it’s pounding upon the creaking bones of “Achieving The Unavoidable” it happily sits deeper in the mix when the swathes of bottom-end cut in through the rougher sections of “Recounting Words”.

The tracks tend to rely on repeating chords which ride over peaks and through troughs, true forces of nature, but every now and then the more experimental edge of the band rises to the fore. It can be found attacking us though the monotonous wave-crashing chord strikes of “The Aground Hard Ship” and sending our minds spiralling with the mesmerically chiming, twinkling strings of the glorious “Abandoned Among Echoes” and the somewhat clunkier “Awakened By The Aurora”.

The combined and varied musical backgrounds of the band has led to an interesting mixture of pleasure and pain; never quite tearing you apart they manage to crush and soothe in equal measure. There’s a depressive quality that settles over the listener like a cowl (the blackened gloom of “Floating On Calm Waters” is the maritime equivalent of a death march), yet the tanker-sized riffs that power the beast are from an entirely different place. The Shipwreck may not ultimately prove to be their greatest achievement, but Whales & Aurora’s waves of attack are something that just have to be experienced to be believed.

Author: John Skibeat

Review
Lords of Metal
7.3/10

Slow Burn Records, a sub label by Solitude Productions which focusses more on core and such and sludge and post metal than the mother label, give us the Italian Whales And Aurora this month. When I see whales and oceans I inadvertently think of bands such as Mastodon and Ortega from The Netherlands. Whales And Aurora can best be placed in the corner of Ortega, so long spun out songs with eruptions and calm passages with hardcore like vocals. Think Cult Of Luna. Where Ortega has quite a sound of their own these Italian whalers keep mighty close to Cult Of Luna. It is nice listen but misses the suspense build up the masters from Sweden do possess. But given the fact that ‘The Shipwreck’ is Whales And Aurora’s debut album I am looking forward to what a second album by them will bring us.

Author: Marcel H.